How good is the new cybersecurity chief?

Howard Schmidt, (photo courtesy of white House) the former chief security officer of Microsoft and vice president for security at eBay was just appointed cyber security chief in the Obama administration. Schmidt also served the Bush administration's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board after Sept 11, 2001.

The seattleweekly.com had a VERY derogatory article about his qualifications as a security man. when he was at Microsoft windows 2000 was hit by the Code Red worm and other attacks. That was LONG ago but the cyber community is less than impressed.

Here is what By Mark D. Fefer had to say about him:

"With a top banner featuring a 10-year-old iMac (the big, bulbous, colored one) and various 1's and 0's, the site looked roughly like what an aspiring IT consultant from Des Moines might have ginned up in 1999. The home page featured the R&H logo; Schmidt's oft-used tagline about the country's need for a "mosaic of security"; and the phrase "Under Contruction" [sic]. Indeed every page at www.cyber-security.us—Contact, About Us, and News—was under construction. No PayPal buttons or interactive functions for Schmidt; his site was locked down tight.

A few days after we posted a blog item about Schmidt's site, it was taken down entirely."